Bea Roberson: A letter to the Vice Mayor - this is our problem with you

By: Radio Free Richmond

Vice Mayor Beckles: people do not attack you because of your personal matters, but instead because of the way you conduct yourself in the City Council. You shut people down and then go on tirades and kick people out when they don't agree with you. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

EVERYONE has a right to go up there and say what they want to say. You and the Mayor and don't let that happen! It would much less disruptive if you and Gayle were to show some RESTRAINT and just say “Next speaker.” What happens is that you and the Mayor ENGAGE with the people, but what should happen is that you and the Mayor should hear people, and MOVE ON. Everyone knows what your views are, but WE have a RIGHT to have our opinions known also. We can state OUR opinions and ideas, just like you can.

The other problem is that while you and the Mayor are silencing people and VIOLATING OUR RIGHTS, you are doing whatever you want without bringing ANY decisions before the council OR getting anybody’s approval. Items are put on the City Council agenda without prior notice, and it looks like you just PICK AND CHOOSE the items YOU want to pass so they can get by without anyone noticing. It's NOT fair, and it's NOT democratic. Then, when people challenge you, you get angry and say it is because of PERSONAL MATTERS, when in reality it's because you KNOW you can't handle yourself in public.

THAT is why you get so angry with people. Vice Mayor Beckles: you want what you want, and we've SEEN what happens when people get in the way of that. When you don't, you turn around and have a MELTDOWN and make excuses for your bad behavior -- all the while sending out messages regarding love & peace. The disgraceful show the other night after a council meeting was just that “a temper tantrum” just like a 3 year-old stomping their feet. You say you were in tears—that is a bald faced LIE, you were MAD. YOU did not have to come out of that room and engage in that screaming match.

What we want is to be included. To be a part of the process, and NOT fear being silenced if we speak up. Is that too much to ask?

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The real people of Richmond I know have NEVER or will NEVER want the Socialist Greens to represent them! We find them offensive, use race and sex to divide our community, they use political repression and censorship as weapons & tools to silence people whom they deem as their so-called critics!! They have DONENOTHING for our community! The current Socialist Council Majority has caused families to move because of high taxes they passed or homes to go into foreclosure because of their taxes, the loss of thousands of jobs because the conditions it takes to be able to run a business or company in Richmond, the Socialist Green Majority have contributed to the lack of UNDEREMPLOYMENT OR NO EMPLOYMENT for the residents of Richmond. They are directly responsible for the City of Richmond government to be on the verge of bankruptcy. In a few months, it’s gonna be PAYBACKTIME! The Socialist Green Majority will be gone forever! The voter revolution is gonna begin soon! Your days are done here!

Don Gosney commented
2014-08-06 13:15:25 -0700

There will always be people who will point the finger of blame in all of the wrong directions. Whatever problems they may face, it’s never their own fault—it’s because of (insert whatever here). They blame their race, their ethnicity, their religion, the color of their hair, the people they associate with—everyone and everything except what might be the real reason.

In the case of Vice Mayor Beckles, she seems to want to blame so many of her problems on the fact that everyone hates her because of her sexual nature. While some members of the community may harbor strong feelings about homosexuality, most people simply don’t care whether she sleeps with men, with women, with goats or her stuffed Elmo doll.

Here’s a revelation for the Vice Mayor and for anyone else who feels persecuted and wants to lay the blame on whatever will get them the most mileage: look in the mirror and maybe you’ll see the problem. Sometimes the problem is that people simply do not like you. They may not like your personality, your behavior, your smirky grin when you’re mistakenly trying to come across as being smarter and better than the rest of us (sometimes referred to as a Superiority Complex), and—and this is a big one—your politics.

So before you run to the media again and beg them to write stories about how persecuted you are (as you did with Carolyn Jones with the Chronicle just yesterday), and before you set yourself up for abuse so you can take political gain from it, try looking within yourself and asking: “why do so many people take offense at everything I do and everything I stand for?” Maybe when you honestly answer those questions you won’t have to stand on your soapbox and shout at the world that they should pity poor innocent you. Don’t forget that there was a whole lot of us who disagreed with you and your politics long before you came out as being gay.